This blog is for people who insist that there is no real difference between a Republican and a Democrat: after all, they’re both politicians, one might say. With that reasoning, there is no difference between men and women: after all, they’re both humans. While there are many issues on which both parties can be either uniformly commended or disparaged, there are also core principles which distinguish them. A couple prime examples of how the two major political parties differ have surfaced in recent new cycles.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) case against Boeing in South Carolina which began last summer has resurfaced. Simply stated for those who may not be familiar with the case, the NLRB says Boeing cannot build a plant in South Carolina (a right to work state), because the company will be taking jobs from their facility in Washington state (a union plant.) Boeing says strikes at the Washington plant have seriously impaired their ability to serve their customers (I think that is what strikes are supposed to do.) To better serve their customers, Boeing wants to have non-union workers build their airplanes.
Good for Boeing; good for South Carolina; not so good for Washington (the state or the District.) The principle at stake here is that manufacturers should be allowed to make their products wherever they can get the biggest bang for the buck. The federal government has no business telling Boeing (or anyone else) where they can build plants. The free market system dictates that market forces, not the government, determine where and by whom things get made. If in fact there are laws on the books that would prohibit Boeing from building in South Carolina, it is the law that is wrong, not Boeing.
The other case that is hitting the news again is the question of the constitutionality of Obamacare. Specifically, some question the legality of the mandate that citizens must all buy health insurance. They ask what right the federal government has to compel a purchase on no condition other than citizenship. Proponents of Obamacare like to say this is no different than mandated auto insurance; this is a false comparison. A person may choose not to drive a car and escape the mandated insurance. A person would have to renounce citizenship to avoid the Obamacare mandate; these are not comparable. Proponents also maintain that healthcare is a right rather than a privilege. This is also mistaken; healthcare is no more a right than food or shelter. We should assist those who struggle to afford it, but not by mandating that everyone buy it in a federally prescribed manner. (For more on this, see my “Open Letter to Debbie Stabenow.”)
Someone may be asking about now what this has to do with heaven. The Christian world-view does have something to say about politics and economics. Some mistakenly think that the typical Democrat stance on most issues is more Christian: help the poor and needy; restrain greedy capitalists. Actually, the Republican position usually runs closer to a Biblical model. The Bible calls for individual responsibility and wise use of personal resources, not government enforced charity or government redistribution of wealth. Some misunderstand the early church practice of having things “in common” as being akin to communism. This is not at all correct. Even in its most radical forms, Christian charity is based in individual responsibility to manage what God has placed in one’s control. The church redistributes wealth which has been freely contributed by her members, not through compulsion.
None of this should be taken to mean that there are no Democrats who are Christians or that all Republicans are. Neither is the case. The point is that there are differences in the way the parties address issues, and usually the teams line up according to ideology. The Democrat ideology supports greater state or federal control while the Republicans usually lean toward greater individual responsibility. The Democrats are often concerned with equal outcomes whereas Republicans favor equal opportunities. In the end (on election days,) it does not come down to whether the person has a “D” or an “R” after his or her name. It is rather about whether the “P” (for policies) lines up with the G-O-D.
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